ViaSat's Growing Fleet of Satellites

Coming soon: the world's first global internet service.

At ViaSat, our satellites are much more than just instruments of communication. They’re platforms to connect the world. By the early 2020s we expect to become the world’s first global internet provider. Here’s a look at our existing and planned satellites:

Anik F2

Launch date: July 17, 2004

Anik F2 was launched by Telesat Canada. WildBlue is one of several services hosted on this satellite. At 5,950 kilograms (13,117 lbs.), Anik F2 was the heaviest commercial telecommunications satellite ever launched (at the time). Internet service from Anik F2 offers speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps, more than 25 times faster than dial-up.

Launch site: Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Weight of satellite: 5,950kg or 5.95 tons

Service launch date: June 2005

Speed: Up to 1.5 Mbps download

Geographic area served: The United States’ 48 contiguous states

WildBlue-1

Launch date: Dec. 8, 2006

Demand for satellite broadband service in 2006 was so great that when Wildblue-1 entered service, monthly sales more than doubled the peak rates of Anik F2. Wildblue’s 2,000 certified installers struggled to keep up with demand. ViaSat purchased Denver-based WildBlue Communications in 2009.

Launch site: Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Weight of satellite: 4,735kg or 5.2 tons

Service launch date: February 2007

Speed: Up to 3 Mbps download

Geographic area served: North America

ViaSat-1

Launch date: October 19, 2011

Considered the first of a new generation of super satellites, ViaSat-1 held the record for highest capacity communications satellite for more than 5 years. ViaSat named the new service provided by its satellite Exede. With 12 Mbps download speeds at the outset, it was at the time the fastest consumer satellite broadband ever offered. The name reflected the company’s goal of exceeding customers’ expectations.

Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Weight of satellite: 6,740kg or 7.4 tons

Service launch date: January 2012

Speed: Up to 25 Mbps download

Geographic area served: The continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada

ViaSat-2

Launch date: June 1, 2017

ViaSat-2 will have more capacity than the combined throughput of 40 Wildblue-1 satellites, making it the world’s highest capacity communications satellite.

Launch site: Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Weight of satellite: 6,400kg or 7 tons

Service launch date: Early 2018

Speed: Capable of providing much greater speeds and data than ViaSat-1

Geographic area served: North America, Central America, the Caribbean, a small portion of northern South America as well as the primary aeronautical and maritime routes across the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe.

While the cost of ViaSat-2 is about twice that of WildBlue-1, with 40 times more throughput, the unit cost of bandwidth on ViaSat-2 is more than 20 times less expensive than Wildblue-1. ViaSat-2 will have more than double the capacity of ViaSat-1, and seven times the geographic coverage.

In addition to residential and business internet service, it will provide high-capacity coverage for fixed broadband and mobility services for airliners, ships and other aviation and ocean operations.

ViaSat-3

Expected launch: 2019-2021

Each ViaSat-3 satellite will have as much bandwidth as all the rest of the satellites in the world combined. The first two ViaSat-3 satellites will deliver more than twice the total combined network capacity of the approximately 400 commercial communications satellites in space today. When the third ViaSat-3 satellite is in service, ViaSat will likely become the world’s first global broadband service provider. In addition to residential service, the ViaSat-3 trio is slated to deliver game-changing boosts to in-flight connectivity services and video streaming for commercial airlines, business jets, and high-value government transport. The ViaSat-3 satellites will also bring affordable satellite Wi-Fi connectivity to billions of unconnected people in emerging markets.

Expected launch date: The first satellite in 2019, the second six months later, the third in 2021

Launch site: TBD

Weight of satellite: Approx. 6.4 tons

Expected service launch date: TBD

Speed: Capable of providing speeds faster than ViaSat-2

Geographic area served: North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific